Isolation and Identification of Dermatophytes from Collegiate Runners

Competitive runners experience various risk factors that render them more susceptible to superficial cutaneous fungal infections, including the use of occlusive footwear, shared locker rooms, submission of feet to constant maceration, trauma, sweating, and having depressed immune function. The goal of this work was to assess the prevalence of athlete’s foot fungi in cross country runners at St. John Fisher College. Toe webs of 16 collegiate runners were sampled and volunteers surveyed about their shoe habits, foot hygiene, and average miles run per week. Lack of tinea pedis-causing fungi in asymptomatic cross- country runners shifted the study to investigate the identities of fungi morphologically similar to athlete’s foot and look for correlations with volunteers’ running habits and hygiene. Thirty-five distinct fungal cultures were isolated and compared to a known Trichophyton rubrum strain both microscopically and macroscopically. Four samples were preliminarily identified as tinea pedis-causing fungi and sequenced to confirm molecular identification. Fungal DNA was isolated, purified, and PCR amplified using primers for the internal transcribed spacer region, D1/D2 region of the 28S subunit, and β-Tubulin gene. Three of the four isolates were identified as Fusarium equiseti, a soil-borne plant pathogen with rare human pathogenicity reported. The fourth isolate was Beauveria bassiana, a common soil-borne pathogen that can infect immunocompromised individuals. Correct dermatophytic identification and understanding of the interplay between species is important to provide correct treatment, prevent spread among athletes and within facilities, and determine how opportunistic pathogens might play a role in people with immune suppressed function, which includes runners.

Fingertip Necrosis due to Chemical Burn from Glacial Acetic Acid: A Case Report

Glacial acetic acid is a high-purity acetic acid that is mainly used as a solvent in chemical production and for various purposes in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It is safe enough to be used for chemical peeling when diluted, and has been used in folk remedies for warts, athlete’s foot, and eczema. Indeed, such conditions are the most common reason for exposure to glacial acetic acid. In the present report, we describe the case of a 10-year-old girl who presented with pain and necrosis of the distal phalanx of her left index finger. Two days prior, her fingers had been wrapped overnight with a paste of flour mixed with glacial acetic acid to treat warts. We irrigated the affected area with normal saline, applied a mupirocin ointment, and administered prostaglandin E1. However, the necrosis progressed rapidly. After 10 days, the girl’s fingertip was amputated, and a hypothenar free flap was performed. The case represents a severe chemical burn resulting from the misuse of glacial acetic acid, requiring surgical treatment.

Observe Athlete’s Ankle Pain and Ankle Joint Muscle Characteristics Based on Microscope Images

Objective. To observe the characteristics of ankle pain and ankle joint muscle by microscope. Methods. In a sports university, 15 athletes above grade 2 were randomly selected as the experimental group, and 15 nonathletes were randomly selected as the control group. The experiment mainly included foot shape test, standard scaphoid height test, ankle range of motion test, ankle muscle emg test, and other experimental procedures. Medical microscopic image processing is a new technology developed in the past thirty years, which has brought great progress for mankind to understand and transform nature. Among them, the image processing and recognition of tumor cell microscopic images are one of the research focuses on the use of computers to process and recognize medical images. Results. In the test of ankle range of motion, when the angular velocity was the same as 60°/s, compared with the control group, the difference value of bilateral flexor peak moment in the experimental group was large, and the difference between the two groups was significant ( P < 0.05 ), with statistical significance. As the angular velocity dropped from 240°/s to 60°/s, 30 members of the experimental group and control group also experienced a decrease in the bilateral ankle isokyclic muscles, reflecting their lack of ankle strength. On the other hand, the muscle strength of the ankle joint in the experimental group was relatively small, and the difference between the two groups was significant ( P < 0.05 ). During the exercise, some members of the experimental group suffered from ankle pain, which resulted in insufficient strength of the muscles of the ankle joint, resulting in the interruption of the experiment. In the emg test of ankle muscles, the effective discharge values of preexcitation current of tibial anterior muscle before and after exercise were 104.6 ± 26.5 and 129.2 ± 38.1 , respectively, with significant difference and statistical significance. In the foot morphology test and the standard scaphoid height test, the difference between the two groups was not significant ( P > 0.05 ), and there was no statistical significance. Conclusion. Microscope based on athlete’s foot and ankle pain and ankle muscle characteristics to improve the accuracy of the observation, with the help of a microscope, you can see the details of a doctor are invisible to the naked eye and can record the relevant data in time in order to observe the late, for athlete’s foot and ankle pain relief and enhanced ankle muscles provide data support.

Review On Ayurvedic Remedies For Fungal Infection

In underdeveloped countries, microorganisms are frequently a cause of prevailing diseases, presenting a serious public health problem in a significant segment of the population as revealed by either private or officially granted health care systems. With the rise in-at risk patients, the number of invasive fungal infection has dramatically increased in both developed and developing countries. An antifungal drug is a medication used to cure fungal infections such as candidiasis (thrush), athlete’s foot, ringworm, serious systemic infections such as cryptococcal meningitis, and others. Such drugs are usually adviced by a medicinal practioner or purchased over-the–counter. But use of this types of drugs used in large way makes the unusable due to resistance to antibiotics and with the toxicity during prolonged treatment. There are large number drawback in synthetic drugs so people move towards herbal drugs which is safer. The presented review summarizes the information about introduction, treatment, herb and medicine for fungal infection and concerning the new profile of antifungal drugs obtaining from medicinal plants.

Curcuma turmeric oil enhanced anti-dermatophytic drug activity against Candida albicans and Trichophyton mentagrophytes

Background: As per the World Health Organization survey, it has been found that dermatophyte infections are affecting around one-fourth of the world population. The dermatophytes are commonly keratinophilic in nature which can multiply and invade the keratinized tissues and affect various parts of the human body like nails, skin, and hair. The luliconazole is an antifungal drug utilized against dermatophytes which causes athlete's foot and ringworm etc. fungal infections of the skin or nails caused by Candida albicans (C.P. Robin) Berkhout and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (Robin) Blanchard. Objective: The study aimed to develop the luliconazole topical cream with turmeric oil and penetration enhancer to improve permeability and enhance antifungal activity. Methods: To prepare the luliconazole topical cream, various compositions of formulation were melted and mixed with varying concentrations of turmeric oil. The oil, drug, and aqueous phases were prepared separately and mixed stepwise in a vessel under continuous stirring at control conditions. Result: The optimized LC2 cream was showed pH 6.45±0.12, which is considered suitable to avoid irritation upon topical application. The LC2 cream formulation also showed significantly (p<0.05) more permeability with a permeation flux (0.347 mg/cm2/h) against an aqueous suspension of the drug (0.215 mg/cm2/h). The LC2 cream was followed the Higuchi model and showed the drug release from cream via a diffusion mechanism with super case II transport mechanism. Furthermore, the antifungal activity of optimized cream was found good than marketed cream. Conclusion: It is concluded that the prepared luliconazole cream can be an effective anti-fungal treatment with enhanced drug delivery into the skin to treat athlete's foot and ringworm etc. caused by dermatophytes namely C. albicans and Trichophyton spp.

CONTROLLED RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL ON USING TALISADI TAILAM FOR TREATING PATIENTS OF TINEA PEDIS W.S.R TO ALASA

Skin is the general covering of the entire external surface of the body. Because of a large number of its functions, the skin is regarded as an important organ of the body. There are so many skin disorders of which Tenia pedis is a very common fungal infection that affects a significantly large number of people globally. This fungal infection is called Athlete’s foot because it is commonly seen in athletes. In Ayurveda, various skin disorders are described under the heading of kshudraroga. A brief description about Kshudraroga has been given in many Ayurvedic classics. Alasa is a variety of Kshudraroga occurring in between the skin of toes manifesting with Kleda, Kandu, Daha and Ruja. Talisadi tailam mentioned in Sushruta Samhita is an excellent formulation prepared of drugs which are effective against this disease. Current study includes 30 patients from OPD Department of Shalya Tantra, Jammu Institute of Ayurveda and Research, Jammu and Sri Sain Charitable Hospital, Janipur, Jammu diagnosed to have Tenia pedis based on signs and symptoms. Therapeutic effect was evaluated before and after treatment. The present clinical study has shown symptoms of Kandu, Daha, Ruja, Kleda significantly reduced after application of Talisadi tailam.